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The Well Keeper Ch2 Rising Jack
Part 2 of a fan fiction set in the universe of Xiaolin Showdown. The Well Keeper Part 2 Dojo landed outside Jack Spicer's house. "You sure this is right Dojo?" Clay asked, lifting his hat to scratch his head. Raimundo looked at Dojo as he hopped off, "Yeah, wasn't he beaten up and unconscious last time we saw him?" Kimiko's eyes flared at the memory, "Not as beat up as he's going to be when I get through with him." "Here he comes!" Omi hissed. The monks poked their heads out of the bushes they were hiding in. Sure enough, hopping down the concrete drive, hanging on to two Jack Bots, was Jack Spicer. "Ah, I don't know guys, he doesn't look so good," Raimundo whispered. "I don't care," Kimiko snapped as she stormed out of the bushes, "JACK SPICER!" Even from the bushes, the monks could see Jack's eyes widen as he cringed in fear while his Jack Bots unfolded cannons and prepared to attack, only to be promptly blown up by Kimiko's Arrow Sparrow. Kimiko stormed closer as Jack lost his balance and fell to the ground howling in pain. Kimiko grabbed him by the front of the coat and lifted him off the ground so she could glare him in the eye, "Spill it Jack! Where's the Yang Yoyo and what do you know about the man who attacked us earlier?" Her furious expression suddenly faded as she noted tears leaking from Jack's eyes, "Jack?" Jack blinked silently, his lip trembling as he tried not to simply break down, and Kimiko suddenly realized just how horrible he looked. His left eye was clouded and red in the whites, the skin around it a dark bruise purple, along with most of the rest of his face. His nose had dried blood around the edges and was crooked. He was actually trembling, whether in fear or pain Kimiko couldn't tell. She set him down gently, horrified that anything could have hurt him so much. He gasped in pain as she laid him down and she saw that several of his teeth in the left side of his mouth were missing. She looked at the rest of him and saw that the rest of him wasn't in much better shape. One hand had three very obviously broken fingers, and his leg was hanging so limp that she was certain it was broken, "Oh my god Jack, what happened to you?" Jack started to laugh and then caught his breath as red hot lances of pain went arcing through him, "What happened Kimiko? You attacked me remember? When I tried to search you for Wu?" Kimiko staggered back in shock, "What? No I...I couldn't have!" Jack snorted, it was the closest he could get to a bleak laugh, "Really Kimiko? This is the eighth time this year. Second time this month alone, and Groundhog's Day was only last week. Easy to pummel someone when you don't have to see the bruises isn't it? The dislocated knee? The fractured ribs? The broken fingers? Dislocated retina, shattered nose and missing teeth? I can't see out of my right eye by the way, and with one hand it's going to take days to calibrate my Med-bot for optical surgery." Kimiko trembled in shock, "You, you're, you're lying! You can't possibly have been hurt this badly that often!" Jack coughed and specks of blood flew as he hauled himself partially upright on his good arm and began to drag himself across the pavement, "What part of Boy Genius don't you get? You think robots are all I can do? I've done more remote surgery on myself in the past two years than most doctors have done in their entire lives. This is the norm for me Kimiko, or did you forget that I'm not kung fu super tough like you guys? You hit me, I bruise. You hit me hard, I break." Kimiko opened her mouth to say something and then stopped cold as a near exact replica of her voice said from the door, "Jack? Do you need help?" Kimiko's eyes went to the door and she gasped. The other monks looked and were so surprised they fell out of the bush they had been hiding in. In the doorway, mimicking Kimiko's concerned face so precisely it was like Kimiko was looking in a mirror, was an exact double of Kimiko. Jack twisted, "Una, go back inside." The Kimiko lookalike tilted her head, "But Jack, you are hurt." "Slide me the rolly board, I'll be fine. I'll just be a minute." The Kimiko lookalike frowned as though she didn't quite believe he would be ok, but she picked up a small wheeled board of the sort mechanics use when working under cars and rolled it out to him before closing the door, but not all the way. Jack hauled himself up onto the board with what was judging from his grunt of pain, a great deal of effort. Kimiko recovered her voice, "That was..." Her expression turned angry, "You've got a robot double of me as your maid?!" Jack's expression twisted as much as it could to equal the anger in Kimiko's expression, "Apparently you've forgotten, or you just don't care, the only real friends I have are the ones I build! Is it wrong that I wanted the cold metal hands that give me the only comfort I get to be the hands of someone beautiful?!" Then he realized what he had said and with a heave of his good arm, he hurled himself down the drive toward the door as what he had said registered with Kimiko, whose jaw dropped in surprise. Clay scratched his head, "I don' get it, Jack if ya want friends, why don' ya come over ta the good side?" Jack snorted, "I tried that! You all laughed at me! You treated me just as bad as the Heylin side! At least when I'm bad I know there's a reason for you to not like me!" He bowed his head and tears sprang to his eyes again, "I tried to be good. I really did." Then he blinked the tears away and dragged himself a few feet more toward the door, "But I guess that's just not going to happen. I'm not good enough. Apparently I'm not evil enough either. My evil heroes all think I'm worthless, my evil friends think I'm a joke, even Wuya thinks I'm worthless and she was my partner!" Suddenly the door opened again and another familiar voice said, "Jack! Are you hurt? Una said you looked terrible and sent Claybot and Raimundouble to prep the lab for surgery!" Before the monks eyes, a small concerned looking double of Omi came hurrying out to check on Jack. Jack winced and smiled at his small robot friend, "I'll be fine Robomi, go help Claybot and Raimundouble. Tell somebody to come pick up 152 and 236. They're due for some repairs." "But you are so unwell!" Robomi protested, "Are you sure you do not need help?" Jack smiled, "I'll be fine little buddy, go back inside." Robomi frowned, but went back inside. Omi picked up his jaw from the ground, "You have a robot double of me?!" Raimundo laid a hand on his shoulder, "Dude, he's got robodoubles of all of us!" Jack snorted and glared at them, "My only friends are the ones I build remember?" Dojo looked down at Clay from where he was coiled around his hat, "Wow, that's the saddest thing I've heard since Omi tried knock-knock jokes." "Dojo!" Kimiko said by way of rebuke. "What?" Dojo asked, "It is!" Jack sighed through his broken nose, "You know what? I'm done. With all of this. No more. I've had enough." Every head present snapped to look at him, "What?!" Jack took as deep a breath as he could, "You heard me. I'm done with this. No more Wu chasing. No more showdowns. I'm done. Now please, just go." He rolled the last little way to the door and tried to reach the door handle, his arm falling back to his chest as he hissed in pain at the stretching, "Didn't even get to keep my Monkey Staff," he muttered. Suddenly seized by a fit of inspiration, Omi grabbed the Monkey Staff from his pack and ran to Jack, laying it in his hand, curling his fingers around it. Jack looked at him in surprise, "What are you doing?" "If this truly is to be our last meeting Jack Spicer, then you should have this," Omi said quietly, "It will make a fine keepsake if nothing else." Jack's mouth twitched upwards in a weak grin, "Thanks Omi, this always was my favorite Wu. Monkey Staff!" The Monkey Staff activated and Jack used his suddenly increased strength and tail to push himself upright and grasp the door handle. Omi caught his shoulder lightly, "Jack Spicer, I am sorry. We did not mean to hurt you so." Jack looked at him as he turned and walked away, "I know Omi. I know." Then he opened the door and rolled himself inside as the Xiaolin monks climbed back aboard Dojo and took off, looking over their shoulders at him with pity, wondering how they could have allowed themselves to hurt someone, even Jack Spicer, so very horribly. Jack closed the door behind him and smiled as Una offered him a crutch, "Thanks Una, I don't know what I'd do without you." She smiled and kissed him on the cheek. Jack's smile grew what little it could, he hadn't been entirely honest with Kimiko, he had long ago perfected a synthetic material which mimicked the feel of human flesh perfectly. Una was anything but cold lifeless metal. She smiled at him, "You got the Monkey Staff back." Jack smiled at the staff in his good hand, which was also gripping the handle of his crutch, "Yeah Omi wanted me to have it as a keepsake. Maybe the little guy's not so bad after all." Una smiled, "I'm glad, I know how much you like that Wu." Her smile turned to a faint frown, "Did you mean what you said? About not getting involved with the Wu hunt anymore?" Jack grimaced, "Yeah, I'm, I'm tired Una. I'm tired of getting my butt handed to me. I'm tired of trying to work with people who treat me like a worm. I'm tired of coming home looking like this and needing surgery every week or two. It's time for me to retire before someone manages to kill me." Una smiled and kissed him on his un-bruised cheek, "I'm glad." Jack raised an eyebrow at her, "Did I program you with emotions?" Una smiled mischievously, "You built me with an advanced enough processor that I can learn." She stroked his cheek gently, "You programmed me to care for you. You built me to learn. I think I've learned to love you." Jack's eyes widened and she kissed him gently, before turning and sprinting down the hallway towards the lab. Jack stared after his finest creation in shock and then he smiled as broadly as he could and limped down the hallway after her as quickly as he could. As he passed a picture of his family, he paused and stuck his tongue out at it before limping on. It had been too long since Jack had felt loved. His parents had never been around much to even count as being there at all. They had just left him at their country house when he was barely old enough to look after himself. The only person there to care for him was a stern old lady named Mrs. Cornhaven who despite being perpetually cranky and very strict, had been the closest thing Jack had to a family. She had died when Jack was ten. It had been two weeks before he managed to get word to his parents, and it had taken them another two days to come and collect his guardian's body. The funeral was the longest amount of time he had seen them as far back as he could remember, and they had barely spoken to him. After that he had been left to look after himself. They would come and check on him maybe once every month or two, make sure he wasn't dead often simply questioning one of his robots about his well being instead of actually seeking him out and talking to him, make sure he had enough money in his account to buy himself food (and admittedly whatever else he wanted), and then leave. The only other time he saw them was when they would throw parties at the house. Horrible extravaganzas that Jack utterly loathed and never attended, instead staying down in his basement lab, hoping nobody would use his bedroom. It had happened once when he was twelve and the bed had been so sullied that Jack had moved into a room at the other end of the house. As he limped along, still smiling at Una's kiss and unexpected development of non-programmed personality, he thought, "for once in my life, things are looking up." Then his heart stopped in horror as he heard crashing, laser pulse fire and the sound of tearing metal from the lab. "Una!" He yelled and redoubled his efforts to get to the lab as quickly as he could, his heart filled with dread at the horror of what might be happening to his robotic friends. = Meanwhile, many miles away on Dojo's back, "Do you think we should go back?" Kimiko asked. "I don't know that he would really want to see us Kimiko, he seemed like he wanted to be alone," Raimundo replied. "Yeah Kimiko, sometimes you just gotta let a hurt dog lick his wounds in peace. It's not til later when they're calmed down you put the funny looking cone on em." Omi looked at Clay, "Why would you put ice cream on a dog?" "Not an ice cream cone Omi, a cone to stop 'em from biting theyselves while they healing." "Oh," Omi replied, "But why would Jack Spicer bite himself?" Kimiko looked over her shoulder at Omi, "I'm not worried about him biting himself Omi, I'm worried about him hurting himself. He may be as smart as he says he is, but he's not in any shape to be taking care of himself. He's certainly not in any shape to be doing surgery on himself, and the only other people there are his robots." "Oh," Omi said, "You are right, that would not be good at all. Surely though, even Jack Spicer would not be so foolish and arrogant as to attempt such a thing in his current state." Then the monks all had the same awful realization at the same time, Jack might not have been foolish, but he was certainly arrogant. "Dojo! Turn us around!" Raimundo yelled. "And step on it!" Kimiko yelled. "Way ahead of ya, I turned around five minutes ago. We'll be there in about ten minutes." "I hope he's alright," Kimiko said quietly. Jack limped down the steps into his lab and cried out in horror and shock. The lab was utterly demolished. Pieces of destroyed Jack-Bot littered the floor and everything in the room was in ruins. "Your little toys won't help you now," A cold voice said from the back of the room. Jacks gaze snapped to the source of the voice as a figure emerged from the shadows. Jack's blood ran cold as he recognized the Well-Keeper, identified by Wuya and Chase Young as the most dangerous and powerful evil warrior to ever walk the face of the earth. "What do you want?" Jack asked a tinge of fear in his voice, mingled with outrage at the destruction of his lab. The Well Keeper whirled something on a string, "I want evil to rule the world. I can't have bumbling amateurs mucking about making a laughingstock of all evil. In short Jack Spicer, I am here to unmake you." Jack gulped, "Does that mean kill?" The Well Keeper responded by flicking the thing he was spinning like a whip. Jack dove aside and the Well Keeper's weapon left a crater in the stairs behind him. Jack gasped in pain and grabbed a Jack-Bot arm with his tail before dragging himself behind an overturned table, gritting his teeth in pain as his whole body screamed in protest. He quickly disassembled the Jack-Bot arm and leapt aside with it as the Well Keeper slung the table across the room with his weapon. Jack dove behind an exceptionally thick and heavy computer bank. With utterly mind boggling speed he reassembled the Jack-Bot arm into a brace for his leg that would with the jerk of a lever force his knee back into socket so he could fight. As he heard the Well Keeper begin smashing through the computer bank, Jack snapped the brace on and jerked the lever, screaming in pain as his knee popped back into socket. He sprung away with renewed, if still painful, agility as the Well Keeper hurled the computer bank aside. "You're worthless boy!" the Well Keeper roared as Jack dove behind a shattered screen and lifted a broken Jack-Bot, hurriedly salvaging its cannon and hot wiring it into a hand held plasma cannon. He rolled out from behind the screen and opened fire, holding the Monkey Staff with his tail as he opened fire on the Well Keeper, "I am not!" The Well Keeper raised his cloak, intercepting the plasma blast which was absorbed by the cloak with little more than a fwoomph, the cloak rippling like water. Jack's eyes widened, "Whoa..." Then he rolled again as the Well Keeper spun his weapon again and left a crater in the wall where Jack's head had been a moment earlier. Jack leapt into the wires overhead with the agility of the Monkey Staff, "You messed with the wrong boy genius grandpa!" The Well Keeper's weapon smashed through an electricity conduit in an explosion of sparks an arm's length from Jack, "If you were a genius you'd win!" "I will win!" He dropped from the cables behind the Well Keeper and fired as he grabbed a piece of Jack-Bot and leapt back into the wires. He worked as he ran, the Well Keeper's weapon tearing chunks out of the wiring behind him as he shouted "All evidence to the contrary! You're a fool and a failure!" Jack leapt to the lab floor and fired his newly made grapple. The Well Keeper effortlessly dodged and then pulled a matrix, just in time to dodge Jack's kick as he came flying along on the line of his grapple. He didn't see the Monkey Staff swung low until it was too late. Jack hooked the Well Keeper's foot with the Monkey Staff, and in a move that would have made Chase Young proud, ripped the Well Keeper off his feet, over Jack's head and threw him across the room. Jack did a happy monkey jump, "Booyah Monkey Staff!" The Well Keeper yelled, "Yang Yoyo!" and Jack narrowly dodged the small black and white orb that came shooting out at him. Jack aimed his plasma gun and fired. Once again it had no effect on the Well Keeper, but it bought Jack an instant to leap back into the cables, an almost whole Jack-Bot curled in his tail. "Looks like this is a game of "Uncle"," the Well Keeper shouted. "I'm gonna kick your ass back to the stone age where it belongs you old geezer!" Jack retorted as he slashed a support cable with the robotic gauntlet he had just finished making for his bad arm, sending a huge cable live with ennough electricity to fry an elephant swinging down at the Well Keeper who effortlessly dodged and yelled, "Last to call Uncle wins! The game goes on until the winner says Uncle!" Jack leapt to the ground and leveled a rocket launcher he had salvaged from the Jack-Bot at the Well-Keeper, "You're on Grandpa!" The Well Keeper spun and swept his cloak aside, "I wager my Third Arm Sash against your Monkey Staff!" In a movement too fast to see, Jack was wrapped in the Yang Yoyo, which suddenly glowed with golden light as the Well Keeper smiled menacingly, "GONG YI TAN PAI!" Suddenly before Jack could fire his rocket, the entire house began to shift and shake ominously in what Jack knew from experience to be the beginning of a Xiaolin Showdown. In an instant, Jack's lab had become an immense open air arena, surrounded by lightning rods and filled with broken bits of Jack Bot. The floor was an immense Yin-Yang symbol. The Well Keeper had cast aside his hat and cloak for the showdown, revealing a gray robe and pants like the monks wore tied with a black belt, and his hands were wrapped in white bandages. It also revealed his face to Jack, the white hair spiked back almost like horns over mismatched eyes, one a cold blue and the other black where it should have been white and red in the center. The picture of evil warrior was completed by the cruel smile on the Well Keeper's face. Floating on clouds were the Xiaolin monks and Dojo, who Jack was surprised to see, but not nearly so much as the people on the other clouds lightning was flashing down from. In an instant he picked out Wuya, Chase Young, and Hannibal Roy Bean, along with nearly every evil partner he had ever had. The Well Keeper spoke, "We don't have all night boy." Jack's expression hardened and he fired his rocket before diving to collect more parts from what was strewn on the floor. The Well Keeper brushed the rocket aside like a snowball and leapt twenty feet into the air. The kick he aimed to deliver would surely have crushed Jack flat, but Jack had somehow rigged another grapple device and fired it at the descending Well Keeper. The Well Keeper bounced off the grapple and landed on his feet, quickly flipping and sending a Jack-Bot head flying at Jack. Jack dodged quickly and fired his little plasma cannon as a distraction. And on they went. The Xiaolin monks watched in awe as Jack, puny whimpering Jack! went toe to toe with the warrior who had so thoroughly defeated them earlier. "I didn't know Jack could fight like this," Kimiko said as Jack fired a barrage of rockets from the torso of a Jack-Bot. Omi pointed to the Heylin forces assembled on the other clouds, "I do not think they did either." Chase Young looked at Wuya, "Did you know he could fight like this?" Wuya shook her head in awe, "I always thought him little more than a simpering fool." "I heard that!" Jack yelled and fired a fresh plasma cannon at Wuya. Wuya and Chase dove to the side, "It looks like your weakling has become more formidable than any of us gave him credit for. Who would've guessed Jack Spicer could grow a spine? Did not the girl monk earlier this very day beat him within an inch of his life?" "Shut up Chase! I've had it with you!" Jack yelled and launched a rocket at his onetime idol before rolling to dodge a kick from the Well Keeper. Chase Young caught the rocket and hurled it skyward, "Perhaps a little too much spine," he commented as he turned back to watch. On another cloud, Catnappe turned to Tubbimura and Vlad, "Did either of you know he could fight like that?" They both shook their heads, not taking their eyes from the spectacle before them. "I vood nayvar have gaysed dat Jahck cood poot up soch a fight," Vlad said, "Ve may have to change ze meaning of "Jacked" on ze maysej boards. Eez anyvun recording zis?" Tubbimura brandished a video camera, "You know eet." Jack continued to fight well for several minutes, but before long, he started slowing down as the pain and exhaustion started catching up with him. The spectators all hissed in consternation when the Well Keeper twisted the Monkey Staff from Jack's hand and proceeded to beat him about the ears with it before delivering a thunderous kick to his rear that sent him skidding across the arena on his face. The Well Keeper set his foot down and expertly spun the Monkey Staff between his fingers, settling into a ready position. Jack rose unsteadily to his feet and raised his plasma cannons with a determined scowl. The Well Keeper grinned, Jack fired. The Well Keeper was out of the way in a movement too fast to see. Jack kept firing, and the Well Keeper kept dodging. After a moment, the Well Keeper used the Monkey Staff to flick a piece of Jack-Bot like a cannon ball, knocking one of Jack's plasma cannons from his hand. The other was ripped from his grasp by the Third Arm Sash. Jack stood resolute, and utterly defenseless. The Well Keeper grinned and pocketed Jack's plasma cannon, "Normally boy, this is where I would beat you within an inch of your life. Today though, I shall defer to the experts on that. Xiaolin Monks! Show yourselves!" He waved a hand and a ring of smoke spiraled out from him, brushing the Jack-Bot parts away from Jack into the corners of the arena. Up in their seats on the clouds, the spectators saw the horrible truth as they were hidden from Jack's sight. The Xiaolin monks immediately began raising an uproar, trying to warn Jack that it wasn't them. Jack could not hear them. He could not see the bubble of energy that suddenly encased them either. What he could see, was four exact lookalikes of the monks materialize down in the arena. His eyes widened in confusion and no small amount of fear, "Um guys? What's going on?" "We're about to pummel you Jack," phony Raimundo said, "And honestly I think I'm going to enjoy it." "You have done many bad things Jack Spicer," said the phony Omi, "but never bad enough." The fake Kimiko laughed, "A third rate villain, and a first class loser, not a good combo Jack." The false Clay lassoed Jack from behind and pulled him off his feet, "I'd say you're more useless than a hat made of cheese, but I'd have to find a cheese hat to apologize to!" "Why are you doing this?" Jack yelled at them. They answered him with more taunts as the phony Clay, Raimundo and Omi proceeded to leap upon him and give him a beating as merciless as Jack's earlier fighting had been impressive. Jack tried to defend himself, but he quickly fell beneath the hailstorm of fists and kicks and knees and elbows, and one truly vicious wedgie. Jack cried "Uncle!" many many times but the beating only intensified, and the verbal barbs grew ever more painful. Through it all, Jack could hear the words of his former Heylin comrades, twisted so that he heard things like Wuya remarking what a pathetic loser he was. He heard Chase call him weak and a worthless coward. He was painfully aware of Catnappe ,Vlad and Tubbimura discussing what a butt kicking he was getting. Finally after what seemed an eternity of pummeling and insults, the fake monks stepped back, revealing Jack to those who had the stomach to look at him, lying on the ground, beaten almost beyond recognition, sobbing in agony at what had surely been nothing but the cruelest torture for him. Then the Fake Kimiko stepped forward, Raimundo whispered, "Oh this is gonna be bad..." Kimiko heard him and whirled to look, having long since looked away in horror. She suddenly began beating on the bubble, screaming at the top of her lungs, trying to tell Jack that it wasn't her. It was in vain; Jack could neither hear nor see her. He weakly extended a hand toward the fake Kimiko, the only one of the phony monks that had abstained from his cruel beating, "Kimiko, mercy, please...please..." The false Kimiko tilted her head, a cold look in her eye, "Mercy Jack? She crouched down so she could look him in the eye, "You think you're worthy of my pity Jack? You're not worthy to scrub my toilet." Jack tried to stammer out a protest and she cut him off, "Face it Jack, you're worthless." Jack whispered, "No I'm not." "Then prove it," the fake Kimiko replied coldly. Jack couldn't take anymore and started to cry. The fake Kimiko stood up and walked away, "That's what I thought." The villains were beyond disgust at this point and Wuya asked point blank, "What are you trying to prove here Axis? We already know he can't handle the monks all at once." Chase Young declared it cruel and that Jack unworthy of such a punishment, but all Jack heard was Chase calling him unworthy. Then suddenly Hannibal Roy Bean spoke for the first time since the showdown began, seeming to have heard what Jack had, "Why? Becaws he is naht strawng? Becaws he does naht fit the image of a Heylin Warrior? They said the same thing about me once." Hannibal leapt into the arena, still small, his true beany self. He landed next to Jack, who half delirious from pain, weakly said, "Hannibal... Roy Bean? You're... one of my...evil heroes." Hannibal looked Jack right in the eye, "I stahted as a bean sprout boy. Look at me now. They all think yore wuthless. Ah they raht? Ah you a wuhm Jack Spisuh? Ah you gonna jest lay heuh an die while they laugh at you? Ah you gonna let them treat you layk this becaws of what you once wuh? Oh ah you Jack Spisuh? Ah you a Heylin Dragon?!" Jack took a deep breath, his hand coiled into a fist and he pushed himself to his unsteady feet. The fake monks advanced on him. His eyes closed, Jack drew in a shaky breath, "I am Jack Spicer. Evil Boy Genius." "Come on boy, show em wut you gaht!" Jack's eyes snapped open, "HEYLIN POWER METAL!" He bellowed, his face contorted beyond recognition with rage. Every eye in the arena widened to the size of dinner plates as Jack erupted in an aura of crimson lightning which snapped out tendrils and drew the destroyed remnants of his Jack-Bots to him. Guided by his subconscious knowledge of robotics, the pieces of broken machinery whirled around him, fitting themselves together like the world's most intricate jigsaw puzzle until they formed a suit of armor. Suddenly Jack Spicer, everyone's favorite punching bag, was standing nearly six feet tall and looking more formidable than he ever had before with a helmet on that covered the top half of his face, his armor looking like it could've easily gone toe to toe with Mala Mala Jong. Raimundo recovered his voice first from where he was watching high above the arena, "Holy cow, Jack Spicer just turned into Iron Man!" Down in the arena, the fake monks leapt to attack Jack, now wielding Shen Gong Wu which they had pulled seemingly from nowhere. Fake Raimundo used the Sword of the Storm to strike with the force of a whirlwind, Jack parried with a blade that shot from the gauntlet of his armor and delivered a punch that sent fake Raimundo flying as high as the real Raimundo. Fake Omi and Clay attempted to double team Jack with the Orb of Tornami and Lasso Boa Boa. Jackflew upward on rockets built into the boots of his armor, letting the two false monks nail each other as he grabbed the falling Raimundo phony and slammed him into the ground with the full force and weight of his armor behind him. Jack launched a grapple and caught the fake Omi, using the tiny opponent like a flail to deliver a devastating blow to the false Clay. The imposter Kimiko used the Eye of Dashi, and Jack's armor somehow withstood the attack. Then he rocketed forward and delivered a punch of incredible power to the imposter Kimiko, knocking her into the wall with such force it left a Kimiko shaped crater. Then Jack turned and charged the remaining three imposters, butchering them with blades that sprang from his gauntlets. The real Xiaolin monks winced in horror at the brutality Jack tore their lookalikes apart with as the Heylin spectators cheered. Jack couldn't hear any of it as he turned and looked around, "WELL KEEPER! COME OUT! FACE ME!" Then he became aware of a slow clapping coming from the shadows. The Well Keeper stepped out of the shadows, once again in his cloak and hat, "Congratulations Jack Spicer. You have proven yourself worthy of the title of Heylin Dragon. Well done." Then Jack became aware of many things at once. First he became aware of what all had really been said by the spectators during the showdown. Next he became aware that he had been fighting illusions. Then he became aware that all the Heylin spectators were cheering for him at the top of their lungs, even Chase Young who didn't go in for that sort of thing was clapping whole heartedly. He looked at Hannibal and the Well Keeper, "This whole thing was a trick?" The Well Keeper nodded, "We needed you to find your power Jack. Your confidence, your courage, your rage. Now you have the power you were destined to have. You are a Heylin Dragon, you will help lead this world into a new era of evil domination, and you have of course already met your teacher." Hannibal Roy Bean hopped to Jack's shoulder, "I think I'm gonna enjoy workin' with ya Jack. Axis heuh is gonna dig up the rest of our team ovuh the next few weeks." Jack thought smiled, then his smile shrank a little, "Wait a minute, did you really destroy my bots?" Axis the Well Keeper smiled, "Only the numbered mass produced ones. I left the ones with personality alone. Oh one more thing, uncle." And just like that, the showdown was over, leaving Jack standing in his lab, battered, but with his new armor and more pride than he had ever felt in himself as he realized, things really were looking up after all. Next Time: Shadow Category:Fanon Category:Cackling Shadow Category:Xiaolin Showdown Category:The Well Keeper Chronicles